not much happened by way of actual accomplishment this weekend. but i'm okay with that. it's gearing up to be a light academic week (let's face it, this is a light academic semester) - no readings for semin because we're meeting at the pma, no class in composers (although i'm now writing a paper for it, about george crumb and interesting i think. but i'm writing stupidly slowly, with breaks for naps and ordering music online.)

i was at a low thursday night, but radio was therapeutic, and i had regained my happiness by the next morning. on friday i did things like take naps and play scrabble online. and that's about it. i don't know where the weekend went.

oh yeah, there were two concerts. both began with radiohead songs ("chris hazard" doing "just" just justice on two acoustics friday; "the glitter wars" spitting "creep" on saturday). i performed at both, but only after dance interludes (square with live band in upper tarble friday, blackstreet and b-jaxx in paces saturday). they were both very well attended (rose tattoo and the halloween show), and a lot of fun.

my favorite acts (besides ifrb): on friday it was pascal (of composers class fame) and some other guy ("tyler"), whose music is indier than indie, reminiscent generally of songs : ohia, will oldham, etc., and specifically of some indie act i can't call to mind that use identical ultra-reverby production and single-note piano technique, both to great effect. on saturday, i perhaps most enjoyed katie d-port's set of (mostly) marvin gaye covers (she neglected to use "katie davenport is gaye" as an advertising slogan, as she was chagrined to realize when i mentioned it), with her band which now has a name (actually, the "one ton tomato theme", which brilliantly encompasses both "guantanamera" and "opp" was probably the best part of their set.) olde club (now minus skzxxyzy, plus a guy in a gorilla suit) as the misfits was also a special experience.

what about inflight? (yes, matt, i was getting to that) well, i thought friday was the best show we've ever played. it was certainly my best drumming performance in recent memory, perhaps ever at a rock show. it was a very smooth show - there were essentially no mistakes, possibly because the band felt less pressure than at cb's. the energy was of course different from cbgb's (alyssa thinks the audience was less into it). tempi still tended to be fast: many recent performances of "metamorphosis," "dress up," and especially "radical honesty" have been at such a clip that they don't groove as much as they otherwise might - although this gives the songs perhaps more intensity, it makes them less nuanced and comfortable, and i think a bit sloppier. it's a punk thing.

i had so much fun at the rose tattoo show. as several people have commented on, i have conquered my erstwhile inability to smile while drumming, and i have been performing a bit more (somebody said i was the most fun to watch; someone else said i held the band together.) it was nice to be able to see the audience at this show too. the only somewhat unfortunate thing was that because we opened the set with softer numbers ("midnight class," with better harmonies than ever), thinking they would be a good way to transition from the more typical rose tattoo fare, we felt a need to apologize (and joel explicitly did) for not rocking out sooner. but then we did. "dress up" was a highlight. i was very happy with my drumming on "radical."

but the best part was our closer. incredibly, one of my ideas made it all the way to execution at an inflight show essentially unaltered, and we played a rendition of "lullaby" that must have been at least ten minutes and was probably at least fifteen. joel played it and sang solo for a few minutes, and then the rest of us gradually entered. at one point, i found myself heading towards a drum solo, completely unscripted, and the others fell away to let me play. it was everything that i always strive for in solos - structure, the authentic development of ideas, effective incorporation of stray beats into polyrhythms, and at least a modicum of fast sort of showy stuff, which isn't my forte. and people really responded, so that was great. the song continued, and it didn't quite rock out as hard as it could at the end, but it was still i thought a very successful experiment, and can be a guide for future exploration.

as for saturday night: that was a lot of fun too. i was wearing my "nine" shirt, which i thought was very blur (joel got it, i don't know if anyone else did), and went well with blue cords and red "be wild" shooz. i kept my jacket on to cover it during my minimalist drumming for elena's cat power covers as "waif me." elena looked terrific and very funny.

after we set up, i was rushed on stage and began playing too quickly, and for some reason "you're so great" didn't work at all. i'm not sure why, because i'd worked it up so that i could play it quite well i thought, but at the show i just fumbled through it. i couldn't see the audience either. i want another shot.

the rest of the set more than made up for it though. we did beetlebum and song 2 without a hitch, straight rock and roll. then : girls and boys. this was manic. joel started it off with octaves on the keyboard, at a ridiculous speed, which made aaron's awesome bassline sound almost like a punk cartoon of the original. i did my one-handed drumming (second hand free to count on "1-2-3-4…5 fingers") and snotty accent singing of the lyrics just as plans. we played the song and then kept playing; elena and cat (caitlin?) came onstage to hold up "girls" and "boys" signs we had made, we dropped out twice for extended a cappella choruses, then came back in with renewed vigor, crazy punk energy and sloppiness. it was awesome. hannah thinks she uses that word too much.

so, there you have it. i was going to write about iceland, but it's getting late so i think i'll study a bit for french quiz and resume blogging tomorrow. tomorrow is tuesday by the way.

GIRLS who are
BOYS who like
BOYS to be
GIRLS who do
BOYS like they're
GIRLS who do
GIRLS like they're
BOYS